They twisted around other's emotions, a dance that they had not shared in far too long. There was an eternity of agony in her eyes, feelings that ran deeper than he knew what to do with. There was nothing else he could say. If she turned from him now, he'd let her go, because he didn't have enough will left in him to chase after her. Not again.
Hot tears seeped from beneath his tightly clenched lids, a betrayal of the anguish that seemed to be turning into a physical thing between them. They had both lost so much. Lost pieces of themselves, of the lives they should have had. There was no promise that they would ever be able to regain these things, that the brokenness could be healed. It was time they'd never get back.
The world had crashed around her, he could feel the anxiety tighten every muscle of her body where it touched him. She'd never been an open sort, but this went beyond the normal guarded nature she had always held close. This was fear. There's a pause in the moment where the tension slackened, where he saw relief on her face. Their son had not been forgotten. There was love in her voice. He could not believe that much love would allow her to abandon the boy voluntarily.
There's a long moment of silence between them in which only the hollow sounds of their breathing is heard. He could feel the words pushing against her throat, and knew if he said anything at all they might disappear forever. They would take her with them. He could only hold her, to let his tears silently seep into the dark hair of her withers while he waited for courage to find them both.
Her words when they come are as stiff as her body. Hard words, ones that hardly made sense to the burly stallion except that he knew she was beyond lying now. The bits and pieces of story she was extracting were nothing but the truth, as aching as it was to hear them. Silver Cove. A place he knew little of, except that now he was aware that it had housed Warlight and Clegane for a time. It was where she had labored and given life to their son. "I wish I had been." He breathed, and once more felt the failings of a mate who had not been there to support her through it.
The impossibility of her dying was a hard truth to reconcile besides the very much living mare he now breathed in. That she had ever been anything less than whole and well seemed like a laughable thing. Yet he had seen her in the plague days, when they had both of them walked very near death's door. Every night he had worried that he would wake the next morning to find her cold and stiff beside him, his little magic finally too weak to fight off the inevitable end.
It was an undeniable miracle that she stood here now. He could never repay the ones who'd seen fit to return her to the world he lived in, because that world had been set off its axis the day she'd left. He nuzzled the crease of her spine with a gentle touch, feeling the strength it had cost her to admit the decisions that had taken them so very far apart. He kissed her there, and hoped as he always had, that she could take the strength she needed from him.
"He is a strong and healthy young stallion." Raul spoke after a moment, pride in what they had created together radiating from the words. "I will be forever in debt to the powers that granted you life again." That granted him his heart again. There was more to say. Declarations of undying love, and ardent promises of forever. Words that meant only what the actions that followed would uphold.
He would not say them. Emotions ran too high as it was, tearing them into their most basic shapes. It was enough that she was here now, and that he knew at last what had become of the bravest girl he'd ever known. With luck, the next steps would be ones they could take together.
@[Warlight]
Hot tears seeped from beneath his tightly clenched lids, a betrayal of the anguish that seemed to be turning into a physical thing between them. They had both lost so much. Lost pieces of themselves, of the lives they should have had. There was no promise that they would ever be able to regain these things, that the brokenness could be healed. It was time they'd never get back.
The world had crashed around her, he could feel the anxiety tighten every muscle of her body where it touched him. She'd never been an open sort, but this went beyond the normal guarded nature she had always held close. This was fear. There's a pause in the moment where the tension slackened, where he saw relief on her face. Their son had not been forgotten. There was love in her voice. He could not believe that much love would allow her to abandon the boy voluntarily.
There's a long moment of silence between them in which only the hollow sounds of their breathing is heard. He could feel the words pushing against her throat, and knew if he said anything at all they might disappear forever. They would take her with them. He could only hold her, to let his tears silently seep into the dark hair of her withers while he waited for courage to find them both.
Her words when they come are as stiff as her body. Hard words, ones that hardly made sense to the burly stallion except that he knew she was beyond lying now. The bits and pieces of story she was extracting were nothing but the truth, as aching as it was to hear them. Silver Cove. A place he knew little of, except that now he was aware that it had housed Warlight and Clegane for a time. It was where she had labored and given life to their son. "I wish I had been." He breathed, and once more felt the failings of a mate who had not been there to support her through it.
The impossibility of her dying was a hard truth to reconcile besides the very much living mare he now breathed in. That she had ever been anything less than whole and well seemed like a laughable thing. Yet he had seen her in the plague days, when they had both of them walked very near death's door. Every night he had worried that he would wake the next morning to find her cold and stiff beside him, his little magic finally too weak to fight off the inevitable end.
It was an undeniable miracle that she stood here now. He could never repay the ones who'd seen fit to return her to the world he lived in, because that world had been set off its axis the day she'd left. He nuzzled the crease of her spine with a gentle touch, feeling the strength it had cost her to admit the decisions that had taken them so very far apart. He kissed her there, and hoped as he always had, that she could take the strength she needed from him.
"He is a strong and healthy young stallion." Raul spoke after a moment, pride in what they had created together radiating from the words. "I will be forever in debt to the powers that granted you life again." That granted him his heart again. There was more to say. Declarations of undying love, and ardent promises of forever. Words that meant only what the actions that followed would uphold.
He would not say them. Emotions ran too high as it was, tearing them into their most basic shapes. It was enough that she was here now, and that he knew at last what had become of the bravest girl he'd ever known. With luck, the next steps would be ones they could take together.
@[Warlight]